Transportation infrastructure initiatives to boost employment?

Hmmmm……..:

Infrastructure was front and center yesterday at a hearing held by the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, “Investing in Infrastructure: The Road to Recovery.” The hearing primarily focused on how transportation infrastructure investments can jumpstart the nation’s fledgling economy through job creation at a time when the U.S. construction agency’s unemployment rate is at 9.9 percent, which the House T&I Committee Chairman James L. Oberstar (D-Minn.) said in his opening statement is the highest among any industrial sector.

What’s more, the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) said in January that there are 3,071 transportation infrastructure projects—like maintenance and the repair of existing facilities—that could be kicked off for $17.9 billion that could be under construction within 90-120 days if funding were available. And an editorial in the Tuesday, October 28 edition of the Boston Globe noted that “each $1 billion invested in mass transit and highways leads to 47,500 well-paying jobs.”

They also not the CSCMP’s comments:

At the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP) Annual Conference held in Denver earlier this month, Janet Kavinoky, Director, Transportation Infrastructure, at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, said in a presentation on transportation infrastructure that much is at stake when it comes to transportation infrastructure initiatives, and if the necessary steps are not taken in the U.S. congestion will continue to worsen.